This invention is concerned with improvements relating to containers, specifically for conveying small livestock, and systems of transportation, specifically of small livestock, from geographically spaced buildings in which the small livestock is housed, to a factory in which the livestock is to be processed. The invention has been devised particularly for use in relation to the handling of poultry such as chickens, turkeys and the like. It is however to be appreciated that the invention may be used to advantage in the handling of other small livestock.
Since the early 1950's, the intensive production of poultry has expanded considerably. For example in the U.K., approximately twenty five million chickens and probably one million turkeys were produced. The growth of the industry has resulted in the establishment of large processing plants capable of handling substantial numbers of poultry per week. Thus, whereas in the early 1950's a factory capable of killing twenty to thirty thousand chickens per week was considered large, today factories killing up to five hundred thousand chickens per week are in existence.
The development of such large processing units has made desirable the development of efficient means of transporting large numbers of live poultry. A traditional method of transporting all forms of poultry was to catch them in the building in which they were housed, and to carry them by hand to the nearest roadway where a vehicle awaited them. At the vehicle they were loaded into wooden crates through a small aperture at the top. A traditional crate was three feet long by two feet wide, and of a height appropriate to the species of poultry being carried. The crates were then stacked onto the vehicle and secured into position, and the vehicle travelled to the point of unloading. At the point of unloading the crates were unloaded by hand from the vehicle. The birds were then individually removed through the small top door of the crates, and hung on the poultry slaughterhouse processing lines.
This system is still widely used in the smaller poultry slaughterhouses, but is becoming increasingly unpopular for a number of reasons. Firstly it is necessary to carry the birds to the crates, which is a labour intensive operation. Secondly, it is necessary that the crates be carried to and loaded by hand onto the vehicle. This is physically demanding work and because of the violent movements which result (i.e. crates being dropped etc) the birds are subject to damage by bruising or broken limbs. Thirdly, it is difficult, to place the birds into and to remove them from the crates without damaging them as they pass through the top hatch. Fourthly, the crates have to be individually man-handled and then washed at the factory.
In the early 1960's, the larger processing plants started to develop alternative means of transport, the most commonly adopted method being to use a special vehicle on which the crates were fixed in position. It was therefore only necessary to carry the birds to the vehicle and place them in the crates through doors on the side of the vehicle. At the factory the birds were again removed from the crates through the same doors, and hung on the processing lines.
This system offered the advantage that it eliminated the individual handling of the crates both at the farm and the factory, and it made it possible to automate the cleaning of the total vehicle. However, it was still necessary to carry the birds by hand to the vehicle and to lift them up to the top crates on the vehicle, and at the factory it was necessary to have special facilities so that either the total vehicle was lowered or raised for unloading, or alternatively so that the processing line could be raised or lowered to the height of the vehicle. The birds were still also subject to damage during loading and unloading through the relatively small end apertures of the crates.
There is therefore a demand for a means which is appropriate to the handling of large numbers of live poultry, in reducing the amount of physical work involved in the handling of the live poultry, in improving the methods of handling so as to reduce the amount of damage sustained by the birds, and in providing improved working conditions for those involved in the various operations.
According to a first aspect of this invention there is provided a container for conveying small livestock, comprising an outer frame, a plurality of superposed drawers mounted within and supported by the frame for sliding movement relative thereto between open positions in which there is ready access to the interior of the drawers and closed positions, and locking mechanism whereby the drawers may be secured in their closed positions.
Preferably the frame is of open-work construction, to reduce the weight of the container. Advantageously the locking mechanism is operative to lock all the drawers simultaneously, reducing the likelihood of one drawer being left inadvertently unlocked, with possible adverse consequences during subsequent transportation.
The locking mechanism may be adapted for manual operation, but preferably the container comprises a lifting formation adapted to enable the container to be picked up by a transporter, such as a fork lift truck, the locking mechanism being associated with the lifting formation in a manner such that it is moved to lock all the drawers automatically by the picking up of the container by such a transporter.
In this manner, danger of one or more drawers being left unlocked, and inadvertently falling open during such transportation of the container, will be avoided.
The locking mechanism may be so moved by the transporter to a stable, locked position, which it retains until specifically unlocked. Thus, when the transporter places the container on a lorry or trailer, the locking mechanism will nonetheless remain in its locked position.
Advantageously however, the locking mechanism is biased to its unlocked position, and will normally be retained in its locked position by inter-engagement between said container and a part of the lorry or trailer upon which the container is placed.
The advantage of this is that, when subsequently the container is removed from the lorry by being lifted therefrom by another fork lift truck, the locking mechanism is retained in its locked condition throughout, until the container is set down by the fork lift truck (for example alongside a location at which the livestock is to be removed from the container) whereupon the drawers are automatically released for opening.
Where the containers are adapted to be stacked vertically on a lorry or trailer, each container is advantageously provided with a formation similar to the part provided on the lorry or trailer as aforesaid, whereby the locking mechanism of a superposed container will be retained in its locked position by engagement of the superposed container with the said formation provided on the container upon which it is superposed.
Advantageously however, over-riding mechanism is provided which is manually operable to release the locking mechanism, despite the locking mechanism being normally retained in its locked position by virtue of the position of the container on the lorry, or of the position of the container upon a similar container, as aforesaid. In this manner, should it be necessary to remove the livestock from the container whilst the container remains on the lorry, this may be carried out.
This invention also provides, in combination, a lorry and trailer, and a container of the kind set out in the last preceding paragraphs, the lorry comprising means operative normally to retain the locking mechanism in its locked condition when the container is placed thereon.
Preferably the container comprises two tiers of superposed drawers located side by side, the drawers of the two tiers being mounted for movement from their closed to their open positions in the same direction. Additionally or alternatively, the container comprises two tiers of superposed drawers located end to end, the drawers of these two tiers being mounted for movement from their closed to their open positions in opposite directions.
Preferably the locking mechanism is operative to lock the drawers of both tiers, or all four tiers, as the case may be in their closed positions simultaneously.
Preferably the drawers are so mounted as to be capable of separation from the frame: this is particularly useful since it allows the drawers to be separated from the frame, to be subjected to a washing operation.
This invention also provides a system of transporting small livestock such as poultry from buildings in geographically spaced locations housing the livestock to a factory in which the livestock is to be processed, involving the use of containers, each having a number of separately openable compartments, and in which: (a) a plurality of the containers are conveyed by a primary transporter to a position adjacent to a building housing the small livestock; (b) each container is conveyed from the primary transporter into or to the close vicinity of the building by the use of a secondary transporter; (c) a quantity of the small livestock is placed in the compartments of the container; (d) the container is then carried back to the said primary transporter or a similar primary transporter by the or a similar secondary transporter; (e) the containers are conveyed by said primary transporter to the factory in which the small livestock is to be processed; (f) each container is carried from the primary transporter to a position adjacent to or in the vicinity of a processing line by a tertiary transporter; (g) the livestock is removed from the container and placed on the processing line.
Preferably each container comprises a frame and a plurality of drawers, and subsequent to step (f), the drawers are removed from the frame and conveyed along a first flow path to an assembly station and the shell is conveyed along a second flow-path to the assembly station, at which the drawers and the frame are re-assembled.
Thus, the tertiary transporter may convey the containers from the primary transporter to an unloading platform, at which the drawers may be pushed out from the shell, conveniently automatically onto a moving conveyor belt which conveys the drawers along a first part of the first flow path in front of the personnel employed to empty the drawers. The personnel may then lift the poultry from the drawers and hang them on a processing line which passes in front of them over the open-topped drawers in one easy movement, in particular one which does not involve the personnel having to move bodily, for example turning through 180.degree.. The empty drawers may then be conveyed along a second part of the first flow path through a washing station, at which the drawers are washed, and returned to be re-assembled with the frame or with the frame of a similar container, at the assembly station. The containers may then be returned to the or a similar transporter, to be conveyed in due course to another building housing small livestock.
Most advantageously the primary transporter is a lorry or trailer which may be attached to a lorry. However, it is envisaged that the primary transporter may be a railway wagon. Most conveniently the secondary transporter is a fork lift truck or modified fork lift truck or the like, as is the tertiary transporter.
By the use of this invention, a container may be delivered to or into a poultry house, the drawers opened, allowing ready access to the interior of the drawers through the open tops thereof, and the drawers loaded with poultry. The container may then be conveyed back to an awaiting lorry. In this manner, the amount of walking with the poultry required by the personnel involved in the operation is reduced, and damage to the poultry, either by dropping them into a large container, or by inserting them into a container through a relatively small opening, is reduced.